Troy Burns
by CodeNameTargeter
Summary: Troy burns. Our great city is in ruins.I warned them that this would happen and yet they did not heed my words. I prophesied of her arrival, of the death and carnage she would bring with her. Yet they did not listen.


A/N: This is something I wrote as a school assignment and I liked it, so I'm posting it here. Hope you enjoy.

Cassandra:  
  
Troy burns. Our great city is in ruins.  
  
I warned them that this would happen and yet they did not heed my words. I prophesied of her arrival, of the death and carnage she would bring with her. Yet they did not listen.  
  
I bear both Apollo's gift and his curse for I have the gift of foresight but none will believe me, regardless of all the times my words have rung true.  
  
But Troy still burns.  
  
The moment I set eye on that blonde harlot upon who my frivolous brother doted, the death of Troy was only confirmed for me. Why is it that they believed my twin Helenus yet they will not believe me? Why does he not receive Apollo's curse as well?  
  
Troy is burning.  
  
I pleaded with my father to send this Helen of Sparta back to her husband Menelaus, I pleaded with my brother Hector, I even tried to get Paris to see reason. But Aphrodite pulls shades over their eyes so they cannot see the trickery and ill deeds before them with their own two eyes. Instead, they must support Paris's foolish endeavor to bring war and destruction to Troy's shore and see our poor country laid to ruins.  
  
The Walls of Troy are falling, crumbling.  
  
I burst into my father's grand audience chamber, determined to have myself be heard and for them to listen to me and believe me.  
  
"Do not let the whore of Sparta remain here any longer Father. Please, I implore you to toss her out of our halls and send her back to her husband to whom she rightfully belongs," I plead with my father, the King Priam, sinking to my knees in front of his throne, though I hold my head up proudly, looking him in the eye for a mere moment before bowing it in respect.  
  
"What is this madness?" Paris asks the surrounding court brazenly. "Why should we return my Helen to that Greek fiend when Aphrodite herself deemed that we should be together?"  
  
"But the other Gods do not Brother, and if Troy dishonors divinities among the likes of Athena and Hera, than it shall surely be our doom."  
  
'She's raving mad Father!" Paris exclaims, pushing his way towards me, his handsome features contorted with anger.  
  
"She merely passes on the words of the Gods," Helenus say quietly yet strongly from his positions on the sidelines though he too comes forward. "If she lies, then the Gods will surely strike her down quickly and swiftly with no mercy."  
  
"And what if they do not?" Paris retorts hotly. "What if she merely has a grudge against my Helen for various reasons?"  
  
"More then her protest to your stolen wife's coming here," another voice speaks up from its position beside and slightly behind the throne. "While we all enjoy her presence here in Troy, many worry that war will come to Troy becau-"  
  
"The only grudge I hold against Helen is that she will bring Troy's doom!" I break back into the conversation, cutting my brother Hector off. "Would you rather keep her here and destroy us all or send her back to the King of Sparta and keep the peace that is here already."  
  
Moving quickly, Helenus pushes his way through the crowd to my side, bending down slightly and putting an arm around my shoulders, pulling me back to a standing position. "Keep quiet Cassandra," he whispers softly in my ear. "You're only going to make things worse, let Hector and I talk for you."  
  
"Are you sure Hector is truly on our side?" I ask him in return, whispering also.  
  
"As on our side as anyone could truly be," he replies before raising his voice so more than my ears could hear his say on this matter. "Despite my twin's forwardness in this matter Paris, she is correct as is my elder brother Hector."  
  
"You'd support that insane so-called prophetess if she told you that Hestia, not Zeus ruled on Mount Olympus," Paris spits back with disgust as I bristle with anger as his description of me for I am not mad nor am I a self-proclaimed Seer.  
  
"I would support her if she said that and it was indeed the truth. I do not easily give my trust to other nor is the wool easily pulled over my eyes. Or are you suggesting that it is, brother?" Helenus replies in a deadly calm and collected tone.  
  
The entire audience chamber holds its breath collectively, waiting to see my rash brother's response to this. Paris sputters with anger and takes a step forward but another one of my fifty brothers, Isos, places a restraining hand on his shoulder but Paris shrugs it off angrily and strides towards my brother and myself angrily. Helenus steps in front of me and I glare at Paris from the safety behind my twin's back. Sensing the impending fight, Hector steps between them, holding up restraining hands mere finger's breaths away from their chests to stop either from doing anything rash.  
  
Seeing that my brothers had effectively distracted Paris even though they hadn't meant too, I stepped out from behind my brother and turned once more to face my father, my intended recipient of the conversation before Paris had burst in and it had turned into a sibling argument. But before I can do more than open my mouth, my father speaks at last, his voice quiet, yet commanding. "Silence. All of you."  
  
Hector, Helenus, and Paris all fall silent and as one, turn to face our father. Helenus steps slightly away from the other two and closer to me, placing a protective hand on my shoulder.  
  
"Cassandra," my father continues calmly yet strongly, "Step forward my daughter."  
  
Inside, my emotions are in a turmoil but I do as commanded, praying silently to Apollo to protect me even if he won't allow others to believe me. I bow my head slightly in submission to my father, keeping my eyelids lowered though I feel more like looking brazenly into his face and into the faces of the rest of the court, to yell out to all of Troy to send Helen back to Sparta and to yell for the Greeks to come and take this runaway Queen back before all of our men are slaughtered in battle and none shall remain to protect the women of the losing side from the horrors that they will be forced to go through to satisfy the wanton needs and desires of these tired, victorious, and brutish men.  
  
"Why do you insist on denouncing your brother's chosen wife even though she has done nothing to you?" he asks me, his tone flat and emotionless.  
  
"Because Apollo sends me these visions and I am honor bound to report them to others," I begin, my voice at first trembling but becoming stronger with each passing word. "Because I have seen Troy's gates being broken down and its walls wrecked and the houses are burned to the ground and all of Troy's people are taken into slavery. Because I have seen that it is Helen of Sparta who will be the cause of it and it has already been set in motion just by her mere presence here."  
  
"I say again, she is raving mad Father!" Paris bursts out angrily, unable to contain himself any longer.  
  
"And I say again that she is not," Helenus shoots back, still keeping his calm, cool demeanor.  
  
"Quiet," my father says again and both men fall silent at his tone, knowing that if either of them were to speak, that they would probably find themselves far from Troy before the sun's next rising. "Everyone, leave us except for the four involved here."  
  
Only a few people dare to mutter some discontentment at my father, the king's, orders, but all do as commended and leave the great hall of Troy. Once they are all gone, the doors swinging shut behind the last person to leave, my father turns towards me, a stern expression on his face. "Cassandra."  
  
I bow my head to him, saying quietly, "Yes Father?"  
  
He looks down sternly at me, his face otherwise impassive. "If you have any objections like the one you voiced so clearly minutes ago, voice them now, when it is the proper time, not in public where you merely present yourself as a raving lunatic. Now then, speak."  
  
My voice trembles and I cannot stop it this time, unlike before when it became stronger as I progressed. "Helen cannot stay here Father, if she does than it shall be Troy's ruin! The Greeks shall breach our walls and our soldiers shall be murdered and we woman shall be carried off as slaves."  
  
My father nods silently and then turns to Paris. "Your response to this?"  
  
"Helen came here of her own free will, Father. She was unhappy with Menelaus who she was given to by her father without any input from her, and she has found happiness here in Troy, with me. If you send her back, she will probably be killed by the King of Sparta," Paris says calmly, knowing that he has already won.  
  
I can feel my heart sinking inside of me as I watch my father's face as my brother speaks. He will side with Paris, I do not need one of Apollo's visions to tell me that. But going along with the image of hearing all sides of the story, he then turns to face Helenus. "And you Helenus, what is your opinion on this though I think I know who you are inclined to side with."  
  
Helenus lifts his chin slightly and nods. "Yes, I believe my twin, regardless of what the rest of Troy chooses to believe or not."  
  
My father nods yet again and then turns at last to Hector. "And you Hector?"  
  
Hector pauses for a moment to think, before replying slowly, "I love Helen like one of my own sisters, Father, and if she stays here I will not hold a grudge, but I do think that if she remains here, the possibility of a war is great. However, it is up to you whether she stays or goes, not to your sons."  
  
He nods once more, a thoughtful look coming into his eyes before he speaks once more. "Helen shall remain in Troy. I do not want to hear anymore of these foolish outbursts Cassandra, leave the poor woman in peace."  
  
"She'll be the death of us all!" I scream out before Helenus quickly over my mouth with his hand. I struggle against him, trying to free myself but he only wraps his other arm around my body to stop me from breaking free from him.  
  
"That is my decision, Cassandra, I will not change it. Wars have been fought for land, for power, for glory," he says firmly, his voice a tad angry. He glances over at Paris for a moment and then it softens slightly. "So I suppose that a war over love is a better reason than all the rest."  
  
"We'll all be dead in ten years!" I try to shout from behind my twin's hand, but my words are quite effectively smothered by his hand and nothing more than some cluttered shouted mumblings reach the men's ears.  
  
"Hector, help me here," Helenus hisses at our older brother as my father dismisses us and tells Paris to go and tell the others that they can now return to the hall. "I do not want Mother nor the others to see her like this."  
  
I fight against them with all my strength, kicking wildly at them but it has no effect on them for Hector is a war hero, Troy's best warrior, and while Helenus might not be the warrior that Hector is, his strength is more than able to cope with whatever I might throw at him.  
  
"Cassandra, calm down," Hector says soothingly to me as we head towards the women's quarters and Helenus at last removes his hand from my mouth.  
  
"You don't understand," I half sob, "None of you understand."  
  
"Understand what?"  
  
"Understand that she'll be the one who kills us all. She may not be the one holding the sword, but she will be the causes of it," I spit out, refusing to use her name, for in my eyes, she does not even deserve one.  
  
"There will be a war, Cassandra, but it will not kill us all," Hector replies.  
  
"Not all of us, but most of us," Helenus says calmly. "She is not the only one who has Seen it."  
  
"What?" Hector turns towards Helenus, both his expression and voice shocked. "You have seen this war as well? Why did you not speak of it back there?"  
  
"I saw no reason to speak of it then. When Father calls upon me for my opinions, not merely for a way solve a conflict quickly, I shall speak of them."  
  
Their conversation continues on but I remain silent for the rest of the way back to my chambers, for I have said everything that can be said to them about this matter.  
  
Troy burns, our men slaughtered and us women raped.  
  
Years have passed, and war has come to our shores just as I predicted. I have pleaded with my Father countless times, but his mind has been made up and once that is done, he cannot relent. Many now think me mad, but I am not, or perhaps I am. Madness could just be another part of Apollo's curse upon me.  
  
I exit the Archer God's temple and then the Temple courtyards and almost run into Helen of Sparta, though she is Helen of Troy now, who is on her way in, to visit Aphrodite's shrine no doubt since it was the Goddess of Love who brought her here.  
  
"Excuse me," I mutter quietly, refusing to meet her eyes as I try to brush by her and quickly leave.  
  
"No wait, Cassandra!" She says after me.  
  
I pause, and after a beat, I turn around. "Yes?"  
  
Her blue eyes watch me, cool and calculating, though there is a bit of confusion in there. "Why do you hate me so much? What is it that you have against me?"  
  
I bite my tongue hurriedly so not to blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind. That I hate her for destroying our great city, for causing the deaths of so many of my brothers, for causing all this death and hatred. But I say none of these at first, merely replying calmly, "You are on your way to worship the Gods, it is not wise to make them wait, we can talk about this later."  
  
I turn to walk away, but she grabs my arm, spinning me around, and preventing me from going any farther. "Aphrodite will understand if my worship is slightly delayed. I need to know why you hate me so much, what it is that I did to you."  
  
Now, I allow my tongue to say the words that I had held back before, unable to restrain myself. "Because you have brought nothing but death to my country. Many of my brothers' souls reside now in the Underworld, dieing for the sake of two people, just to make you and my stupid brother happy. Just yesterday, I stood back and watched them burn my brother Polydorus, the youngest of us all. Soon all of our fighting men will be gone and we must call upon the young children and the old gray-beards to fight and protect us woman."  
  
I yank my elbow out of her grip and pace angrily before her. "You ask why I hate you? I do not hate you, I hate what you have done, what you have caused, what you and Paris have created with your so called love. So there is your answer, Queen of Sparta. It is the best that you shall get so do not hassle me any more with your questions on why I hate you. All of Troy might love you, but I never will."  
  
I stand there quivering with anger, glad to have at last said some of the words that I have so dearly wished to say to her for eight long years. She blinks slowly, still comprehending what I have said, lowering her lids for a moment. When again she looks up, I see that her blue eyes are filled with tears, though to me they are but crocodile tears, and not to be trusted.  
  
"I am sorry if that is how you view this, Princess of Troy, and I highly doubt that I could change your mind, even with Aphrodite's help."  
  
"Because Lord Apollo watches me, even as Aphrodite watches you and my frivolous brother," I say bitterly, interrupting her pretty little speech.  
  
"Yes, I suppose," she replies, a bit taken back by my words. "But it was true what you said all those years ago, Paris and I did bring war to your country, but we did not mean to destroy what was here, and neither have we, or so I think." She pauses for a mere moment, lowering her gaze once more before raising it again to look at me, her blue eyes locking gazes with my brown ones. "You don't know what it's like to be in love, or at least I do not believe that you do. It's something where you are on fire every moment of your life and every moment that you are apart from your lover that every part of your body aches to be by his side, to be in his arms."  
  
My brown hair falls from behind my ears, forming a dark curtain on either side of my face so she cannot see my facial expressions. "I have not known love like the one you describe, but my love for my family overrides any other love that I shall ever have in my life. My brothers are dead because of you and for that I can never forgive you, Helen of Sparta."  
  
With that, I break away from the conversation and hurry away, leaving her standing there, gaping silently after me. I do not regret what I have said to her, for it is what I know to be the truth, even if none shall believe me.  
  
Troy blazes and screams are more then plentiful.  
  
My mother's wails can still be heard and in my heart, I wail as well, in sorrow for my brother Hector. He has been dead for eleven days now, and yet we do not have his body to burn on a brier and send into the Afterlife so his soul will not remain on the shores of the River Styx for all eternity. The monsterus Achilles killed my dear older brother in a duel, in revenge for Hector having killed Achilles' cousin Patroclus in battle before.  
  
I lost my mind that day when I watched Achilles strike down the Prince of Troy who all of Troy truly loved. I bumped into that Spartan whore on my way down to the gates. Tears of sadness and rage filled my eyes as I slapped her on her pale cheek with all my might.  
  
"You killed my brother!" I scream, my voice choked up with emotion. "You killed Hector!"  
  
She only stands there, blinking at me. I can see a red mark on her cheek from where my hand had marked her. "It was Achilles who killed Hector not me," she says in a quivering voice.  
  
"No! You came here with Paris and you caused this war and now Hector is dead!" I shriek at her, unable to control my hatred for her any longer.  
  
If I had had a sword then, Helen would be dead now. I moved forward to slap her again, but someone grabbed me from behind, trying to stop me from killing her.  
  
"Let me go!" I scream at the person holding me, my mind gone mad with grief.  
  
"No," the person says, I can tell now that it is Helenus. "It was Achilles who killed Hector, not Helen."  
  
"But she brought the war here," I sob, still struggling to free myself. At last, unable to resist any longer, I collapse, my strength gone.  
  
That was eleven days ago and the wails for Hector can still be heard through out the city, the cries of my mother the loudest. I sit upon the walls, my head bowed in grief though I do not shed tears for Hector any longer, for I have none left to shed. Dawn comes and I can just see the sun peak over the horizon. A small black dot appears on the beach, moving quickly towards us. I stand up, shading my eyes to better see. "Lend me your eyesight so I can better see if these are friends or foes," I whisper quietly in a prayer to Apollo. The God must've heard my prayer for moments later, I can distinctly see a horse pulling a chariot and two old men inside of it. It is my father and the herald he took with him to try to ransom my brother's body from Achilles.  
  
"Open the gates!" I shout down to the guards. "King Priam returns!" The guards hasten to obey me and I turn towards the city and raise my voice once more as I hurry down the steps towards the ground. "Come hither Trojans, men and women, and look on Hector; if ever you rejoiced to see him coming from battle when he was alive, look now on him that was the glory of our city and all our people." (The Iliad, Book XXIV)  
  
I do not remember much of those eleven days in which the funeral rites for my dear brother were held and the Greeks held back their attacks, a promise from Achilles. All I remember is that the dawn of the twelfth morning, the fighting resumed and more and more of our brave men were sent out to be killed.  
  
The Walls of Troy crumble as I watch and it burns.  
  
The War has gone on for ten long years now, and even the ones who were excited about the war have lost their enthusiasm. But the Greeks have left now and everyone celebrates. Or at least the rest of Troy does thinks that our enemies have left. I do not believe that they would give up so easily after a long decade of fighting against us. I tell my twin my worries and he merely echoes my sentiments. But neither of us dare voice them to our father or the people. I was tempted to, but Helenus stopped me since now all of Troy thinks me to me mad.  
  
I sit here in Athena's Temple, though the hour is late, silently praying to the Gods, Athena especially to protect me should my vision prove correct, though I have no doubt that it shall.  
  
The sounds of distant screams reach my ears and I stand up quickly, alarmed. I dart towards the door and peek out at Troy below. That great Horse, the supposed offering to Poseidon, has soldiers streaming out of it, Greek soldiers. The murderous Greeks move quickly through the city, killing anyone and anything that moves and stopping to capture the occasional woman for whom they can enjoy themselves with.  
  
Troy is being overrun by our enemies.  
  
I prostrate myself before Athena's statue, pleading with the Goddess to protect me from these Greek fiends. The door behind me that leads out to the rest of the city opens and armored men burst in. I do not know what shall be my fate, but I beg silently to Athena and Apollo that if this is to be my end, make it a swift and painless one and do not let me suffer.  
  
I told my father more than ten years ago that this would happen to Troy. That I had seen Troy's gates being broken down and its walls wrecked and the houses are burned to the ground and all of Troy's people are taken into slavery. But he did not heed my words. My brothers did not heed my words. No one listened to my warnings and now we shall all die and the great city of Troy shall be no more.  
  
Troy is in ruins for it burns.


End file.
